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DOG PADDLE
There is nothing like sharing the joys of paddling with your best friend.
If that best friend happens to be of the four-legged variety we
would love to
invite you to follow the adventures of
Dexter the Kayak K9 as he prepares
for his first outing on
the water.
Along the way we will be giving you tips
and tricks for making the experience a safe and fun one
for you and your dog.
One of the things we will focus on is training a dog who may
be a little shy or
hesitant about leaving the safe feeling of
terra firma for the wobbly feeling of a
boat under his legs.
If this describes your dog don't despair because there are
ways to positively and pleasantly
help your dog learn to enjoy
a ride on the water.
Before we begin to actually talk about dog paddling you should get a feel for the training method
that we use with Dexter to help him learn quickly, enjoy his lessons, and be filled with confidence.
Clicker training for dogs was developed by Karen Pryor who began her career as a dolphin trainer.
Since one can't put a collar and leash on a dolphin and yank it around by the neck until it does what one wants
(sound like the old fashioned forms of dog training?) trainers had to develop a way
to "mark" a behavior as "good" so that the dolphins knew when they did the right thing.
By connecting a marker (in the case of a dolphin this was a whistle) with a desirable reward (in this case a fish)
it was easy for the trainers to communicate to the dolphins exactly what behaviors were wanted.
When she transferred this method to dog training Ms. Pryor used a clicker
(available in most pet supply stores or on Karen's website Clickertraining.com )
connected to a food treat or toy or whatever motivates your dog.
Check out Karen's site and also that of another super motivational trainer named Patricia McConnell
(patriciamcconnell.com) to understand the basics of motivational and
clicker training.
I'll give you a few days to do this and then we will start with our first
lesson:
exposing your dog to the kayak on land BEFORE you go
anywhere near the
water.
For those of you who have the perfect dog who just jumps
in the boat and sits still
for the entire trip up the river, bear with us.
Future articles will include info on dog pfds,
the right boat for your dog etc.
Any suggestions for articles are welcome so feel free to email us at
dogpaddle@kayakjam.com!!!
We also welcome questions and will answer individuals as soon as
possible.
Remember we have day jobs so be patient
and we
will do all we can to answer
your questions in a timely fashion!!
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•MORE TO COME... |
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